A Maryland woman is without end grateful to a heroic neighbor who saved her young daughter’s life — and now she is encouraging other parents to learn first aid and CPR.
Leah Porritt, 42, a special education behavior specialist from Baltimore, recalled the terrifying October 2017 moment when she found her then-3-year-old daughter, Maddie, in the bath as her lips turned white, her feet and fingers became blue, and she or he struggled to breathe.
Porritt claims she had drained the bathtub after bathing Maddie, in addition to her son, Cameron. She said she could hear Maddie singing and cleansing up her bath toys while she dressed Cameron within the room across the hall — until Maddie suddenly went silent.
“I didn’t hear her anymore, and after I yelled her name, she didn’t respond,” Porritt remembered.
She continued: “I bumped into the toilet, and she or he was taking a look at me from the bathtub together with her mouth open and arms prolonged, fear on her face. I attempted to comb her mouth out, but didn’t feel anything. I picked her up and pounded on her back, but nothing. I could see her panic, and her lips were blue.”
Pondering fast, Porritt said she picked her daughter up and ran out of the house to a neighbor who had first aid and CPR experience.
“She will need to have heard me screaming because she was opening the door as I got there,” she recounted.
“She grabbed my daughter from me, whose feet were blue as I passed her over. With one hard hit on the back, the toy flew out of her mouth. I even have never been so relieved in my life,” Porritt added.
After the heroic neighbor successfully dislodged the toy from Maddie’s throat, paramedics arrived to present the panicked pair the all-clear.
The nervous mother said she “didn’t sleep that night” and vowed to coach herself to be more helpful in some of these scary situations.
“The subsequent morning I went online and signed up for the [first] first aid and CPR class I could find,” she revealed.
“After I used to be trained, I recruited my local fire department to come back to the varsity I used to be working in on the time and trained each my colleagues and lots of the parents of my students.”
Porritt works to spread awareness to others, so that they never must experience what she went through with Maddie.
“Children can choke on food if you are sitting next to them on the dinner table. All parents should know find out how to help,” she stated.
As for Maddie, Porritt says she is a “thriving” athlete and student who’s “an incredible empathetic, kind, strong and independent girl.”
“I just thank God that it turned out the best way it did, and that I even have been given this probability to boost such a special girl,” the proud mother beamed.
A Maryland woman is without end grateful to a heroic neighbor who saved her young daughter’s life — and now she is encouraging other parents to learn first aid and CPR.
Leah Porritt, 42, a special education behavior specialist from Baltimore, recalled the terrifying October 2017 moment when she found her then-3-year-old daughter, Maddie, in the bath as her lips turned white, her feet and fingers became blue, and she or he struggled to breathe.
Porritt claims she had drained the bathtub after bathing Maddie, in addition to her son, Cameron. She said she could hear Maddie singing and cleansing up her bath toys while she dressed Cameron within the room across the hall — until Maddie suddenly went silent.
“I didn’t hear her anymore, and after I yelled her name, she didn’t respond,” Porritt remembered.
She continued: “I bumped into the toilet, and she or he was taking a look at me from the bathtub together with her mouth open and arms prolonged, fear on her face. I attempted to comb her mouth out, but didn’t feel anything. I picked her up and pounded on her back, but nothing. I could see her panic, and her lips were blue.”
Pondering fast, Porritt said she picked her daughter up and ran out of the house to a neighbor who had first aid and CPR experience.
“She will need to have heard me screaming because she was opening the door as I got there,” she recounted.
“She grabbed my daughter from me, whose feet were blue as I passed her over. With one hard hit on the back, the toy flew out of her mouth. I even have never been so relieved in my life,” Porritt added.
After the heroic neighbor successfully dislodged the toy from Maddie’s throat, paramedics arrived to present the panicked pair the all-clear.
The nervous mother said she “didn’t sleep that night” and vowed to coach herself to be more helpful in some of these scary situations.
“The subsequent morning I went online and signed up for the [first] first aid and CPR class I could find,” she revealed.
“After I used to be trained, I recruited my local fire department to come back to the varsity I used to be working in on the time and trained each my colleagues and lots of the parents of my students.”
Porritt works to spread awareness to others, so that they never must experience what she went through with Maddie.
“Children can choke on food if you are sitting next to them on the dinner table. All parents should know find out how to help,” she stated.
As for Maddie, Porritt says she is a “thriving” athlete and student who’s “an incredible empathetic, kind, strong and independent girl.”
“I just thank God that it turned out the best way it did, and that I even have been given this probability to boost such a special girl,” the proud mother beamed.
